The new Prime Minister (First Minister) of Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Féin) today referred to the possibility of a referendum on the union of Ireland within the next ten years, in an interview broadcast the day after her historic rise to the leadership of the local government.
After two years of political deadlock, 47-year-old Michelle O’Neill has become the first pro-union politician to head Northern Ireland’s government.
“My election to the post of prime minister demonstrates the change that is brewing on this island,” he said in an interview broadcast today by the Sky News network.
“We can have power-sharing” between republicans and unionists (who favor Northern Ireland remaining in the UK), “we can make sure it’s stable, we can work together every day on public policy services and [ταυτόχρονα] to pursue our legitimate goals” [για ένωση με την Ιρλανδία]he said.
Asked if she “foresees a referendum on the union of the island in the next 10 years”, the vice-president of Sinn Féin, formerly the political arm of the IRA (Irish Democratic Army), replied in the affirmative.
“Yes. I believe we are in a decade of opportunity,” “there are so many things that are changing the old norm, the nature of the state, the fact that a nationalist Republican [που τάσσεται υπέρ της ένωσης με την Ιρλανδία]he was supposed to never become prime minister,” continued Michelle O’Neill, “all of which speaks to that change.”
For its part, the British government “sees no realistic prospect” of such a referendum and believes Northern Ireland’s future is “secured for decades to come” within the UK, according to a document released this week.
Following her party’s victory in the May 2022 election, Sinn Féin’s Northern Ireland leader has been unable to take office due to a DUP unionist boycott of institutions under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended in a three-decade conflict that has killed 3,500 people.
The DUP has denounced the post-Brexit trade provisions as a threat to Northern Ireland’s position within the UK, but this week reached an agreement with the British government, which however does not have the unanimous support of the unionists.
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